Due to increases in life expectancy, the general population is aging and individuals are living longer, resulting in a rise in certain medical conditions that hinder or inhibit peoples' natural ambulatory abilities. Statistics show that approximately 100 million Americans suffer from a chronic condition that may limit their independence and mobility. The number of seniors experiencing at least one challenge or difficulty with a basic activity or limitations with complex activities is an alarming 60%. Thus, many seniors and others experiencing difficulty with mobility are left with limited ability to move from one location to another. Even as people age or are subject to physical limitations, there is a natural desire to remain mobile, that is, to be able to walk or otherwise move from one location to another without the assistance of another person. In addition to the freedom that comes with ease of movement, there are also health advantages to staying mobile as opposed to leading an increasingly sedentary life, which greatly contributes to the functional decline of the body.
A common class of ambulatory aid device, which allows a user continued mobility, is a “walker.” Walkers, or walking frames, typically assist the elderly or otherwise physically affected people in traversing short to medium distances while maintaining their balance and stability. Walkers are typically constructed of relatively lightweight aluminum frames that provide a solid base to stabilize a user, but are light enough for the user to lift and move forward and backwards so that the user can brace himself or herself when moving from one location to another. Walkers typically include four extending legs, cross members for connecting and stabilizing the legs, and grips and/or handles that allow the user to effectively hold and move the walker during use. Walkers can be equipped with wheels that further facilitate mobility of the user of the walker.
The length of the legs of traditional walkers may be generally adjustable using a typical telescoping arrangement with detents in one telescoping member and a series of corresponding apertures in an associated telescoping member. However, such general adjustments are not dynamic in that it takes time and effort to correctly and independently adjust each leg. Thus, such adjustments are commonly done only occasionally to accommodate the height of the current user of the walker. It is impractical to adjust the height of the legs for each use of traditional walkers or specifically for a section of a path traveled by the user. As will be appreciated, when the legs of the walker are statically set to be of equal length, it is difficult for the walker to assist a user is traversing anything more than a level and even surface. Thus, while a walker does provide its users with the desired mobility and freedom of movement while traversing level surfaces, there are substantial limitations to such walkers when the user encounters anything other than even surfaces, such as irregular surfaces such as sidewalks and stone-based surfaces and variable gradient surfaces such as stairs and inclining or declining surfaces and terrain. Furthermore, for walkers equipped with wheels, the user may encounter a surface or terrain that is generally incompatible with a wheeled walker such as gravel, sand, and wet ground, which inhibits the efficacy of the walker.
In fact, traditional walkers can be dangerous to users that struggle with strength and balance. Studies have shown that the elderly that rely on walkers remain prone to falls that often result in injuries. Each year, tens of thousands of patients are treated for injuries related to falls while using a walker. Many of these falls occur when the user encounters variable gradient surfaces such as stairs and inclining or declining surfaces. In fact, the inability to traverse a set of stairs in a patient's home remain the number one reason that prevents mobility-challenged patients from being released from healthcare facilities. A set of stairs, even a single set of two or three steps, in the home, can cause a person to lose the ability to live independently in his or her home because stairs are too difficult and dangerous to navigate.
As will be appreciated, while traditional walkers are stable and usable on flat and/or even surfaces, such walkers are typically ineffective and dangerous when used to traverse any more challenging terrain, including stairs and any moderate to severe inclining or declining surfaces or terrain.
There is a need for a novel progressive mobility aid device that can dynamically adjust to accommodate challenging surfaces and terrain such as irregular surfaces (e.g., sidewalks and stone-based surfaces), loose surfaces and terrain (e.g., gravel and sand); soft surfaces (e.g., wet ground and carpeted surfaces), and variable gradient surfaces (e.g., stairs and inclining or declining surfaces and terrain). This is to say that there is a need for a progressive mobility aid device that includes the functionality to dynamically adjust the progressive mobility aid device to a variety of surfaces and terrain. Such functionality includes the ability to adjust relative elevation of the front legs relative to the rear legs of the progressive mobility aid device such that the legs can be set at relative heights that provides for a stable base for the user even when traversing a set of stairs or moderate or severely inclining or declining surfaces and the ability to engage and disengage wheels depending on the surface and terrain encountered by a user. Disclosed herein is such a novel progressive mobility aid device.